"I'm going to try not to talk about it," Deng said. "That's the situation. You sign a contract and it ends. I'm in my last year, so I've just got to go out there and do what I've been doing and just play basketball."

Deng, 28, has been a defensive force since being drafted in 2004 and now has made consecutive All-Star teams. He is the ideal anchor for defensive-minded coach Tom Thibodeau's Bulls.

Thibodeau was effusive in his praise for Deng on Friday, stressing his importance as a leader on and off the court.

"I look at Luol, and I see a special player," he said. "I don't think you can win a championship without a player like Luol. He does so many things for our team that probably go unrecognized by most, except his teammates and his coaches that are around him.

"He's a complete player. He does whatever you ask. He's very disciplined, keeps himself in great shape. He can guard multiple positions, he'll move without the ball, he does a lot of things that make your team better that will never appear in a box score. He's a hard guy to measure statistically, even though his statistics are very good. He's invaluable to us."

Thibodeau is attempting to put Deng's contract status out of mind, like his small forward.

"That's the business side of the game," Thibodeau said. "That's something that (Bulls owner) Jerry (Reinsdorf), (vice president of basketball operations) John (Paxson), (general manager) Gar (Forman) and Luol's agent (Herb Rudoy) will take care of. Luol will focus on playing."

Deng will make about $14.3 million in the final season of a six-year, $71 million contract he signed in 2008. In 2012-13, he averaged 16.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and a career-high 3.0 assists a game.

Deng led the league in minutes per game each of the last two seasons. He sat out the Bulls' final seven games of the 2013 playoffs after experiencing side effects from a spinal tap procedure that he has called "life-threatening." However, both he and Thibodeau said Friday that Deng is healthy and ready to start the season.

The emergence of Jimmy Butler further complicates Deng's future with the Bulls. The 24-year-old swingman has a similar skill set as a ferocious defender who held his own against LeBron James while Deng sat out the Bulls' second-round series against the Miami Heat. While Butler is going to start at shooting guard alongside Deng, his youth, overlap in skills and cheaper short-term cost raise doubts on the Bulls' willingness to pay to keep Deng.

Deng doesn't see it as an either/or proposition.

"Defensively, we're able to take turns on certain guys, depending on who's on the floor," he said. "Offensively, it didn't really matter how we ran our offense and who was in what position. Defensively, I think Jimmy is one of the best in the league and I think he'll get more recognition this year."

Re-signing Deng would push the Bulls toward the luxury tax threshold. In the 2014-15 season, Rose will make $18.8 million. Power forward Carlos Boozer is on the books for $16.8 million, center Joakim Noah for $12.2 million and backup power forward Taj Gibson for $8 million. The Bulls could use the amnesty provision to cut Boozer and his salary cap hit to make room for Deng's assured eight-figure annual salary.

Forman, alongside Reinsdorf and Paxson, will have to make these calls, but he isn't worried about the situation being a distraction this season.

"Luol Deng has obviously been a very important part of what we've built up to this point," the general manager said. "And he will continue to be a big part of what we're doing into the future. I don't anticipate there will be any type of problems with that at all."

The time will come to answer these questions. For now, Deng doesn't want to think about it. He's focused on the Bulls' season opener, at which they will watch the Miami Heat receive championship rings they beat the shorthanded Bulls on the way to winning.

"It's never fun to be there and watch the other team get their ring," he said. "At the same time, it fires you up."

"You never want to lose a guy for a year, but I think it helped everybody's game not playing with Derrick," Deng said. "I think everyone is going to improve with how much he makes the game easier for everyone.

"We've got a great opportunity ahead of us," he added. "Derrick is back, everybody's healthy, we love the makeup of this team. I've just got to focus on us as a team and how good we could be, and everything will take care of itself."